Fracking scare stories condemned by watchdog

Cuadrilla, which wants to start fracking in Lancashire, complained to the advertising watchdog about Friends of the Earth leafletsMatthew Lloyd/Getty Images

A green campaign group made a series of misleading claims about the health and environmental impacts of fracking, according to a damning draft ruling by the advertising watchdog.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) failed to substantiate claims that fracking could cause cancer, contaminate water supplies, increase asthma rates and send house prices plummeting, the Advertising Standards Authority says.

Scientists accused the group of scaremongering after it made the claims in thousands of copies of a leaflet asking for donations to help stop fracking. Cuadrilla, which wants to frack in Lancashire, and the Reverend Michael Roberts, a retired vicar, complained to the ASA about the leaflet last year.

The ASA produced its draft ruling in July but has been forced to delay sending it to its…